


Til Life Do Us Part

by Sagnessagiel



Series: AUIdeas Calendar Fills 2016 [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Death, F/M, I blame the prompt, This Got Weird, You Have Been Warned, lots of mentions of death, really weird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 19:54:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8858662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sagnessagiel/pseuds/Sagnessagiel
Summary: Entry #7: 1001 Ways to Watch Your (Girl)Friend Fall AUStephanie's condition is not easy to deal with, but Tim would never leave her to suffer alone. As they live together, they find their own solutions, in the hopes of finding the real one.Until then, they can only hold on and support each other.





	

Stephanie seethes. She taps her long fingernails on the desk. It reminds Tim a lot of the way a cat's tail will twitch when it is annoyed. She certainly has the claws for it. 

"Look," Tim says, aiming for placating and hitting tired. "It wasn't that bad this last time. You never even felt anything."

"Just one day." Stephanie scrapes her nails over the wood. "One day, I want without this bullshit. I got shit to do, Tim. I don't have time for this."

"You're telling me." Tim crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. "I have a project meeting in the morning and we've got four more deaths left to deal with. I don't feel like moving to another apartment again. I like this one. It's cozy."

The last time this happened in public, Tim became the subject of a whole investigation. Not because he had anything to do with it, but because he acted completely casual about the remains of his girlfriend spread around his feet. Those were new shoes too. Tim did not even have time to get new ones before he was carted off to an interrogation room and accused of killing her. It was a whole mess. They had to move cities and reset their identities again. He is getting quite tired of that part.

"I have to do my Christmas shopping," Stephanie laments. "I have to get presents, and a tree, and a stupid amount of lights to put around our balcony. I don't have time to be smeared on a sidewalk again."

Tim feels sorry for her. He really does. He leans forward and puts his hand over the one currently carving long lines in the desk. Stephanie looks anxious. She always does when this day rolls around. 

Dying over and over again is not fun for any party involved, but it is the least fun for the victim. Stephanie tells him often that she does not feel it most of the time, most of them are quick, but he still worries about the ones that are not. 

The memory of the time she got stuck in an avalanche on their ski trip resurfaces. He suppresses it with a shiver. 

"Hey," he says gently. "It's okay. I'm here."

Stephanie looks up at him, eyes clouded with sadness. She nods once. 

"Yeah," she says, and covers his hand with her other one. "Thanks."

They sit like that for a moment, just comforting each other with their presence. 

"I don't want to do this for another whole day," Stephanie admits miserably. Tim draws in a slow breath, only to let it out as a sigh. 

"Not much we can do about that, I'm afraid." 

It feels like he has said that a thousand times, and it never stops being true. It also never stops being frustrating. 

If there was anything he could do about Stephanie's condition, he would. No matter what it would be, it feels like. They have tried everything they can think of, and nothing and no one was able to help them. As it stands, they can only try to lay low and make sure Stephanie is in a safe place when she wakes up again.

"Unless," Stephanie says, and Tim does not like the look in her eyes. She pins Tim with her stare and lets the sentence trail off.

"No," Tim says firmly. "Steph, you know how uncomfortable I am with that."

"Tim," Stephanie says, utterly vulnerable. "I know, and I'm not asking for all four times, but we're barely halfway through today and I..." her eyes drift down to the desktop beneath her fingers. "I'm tired, Tim. I don't wan to worry about this all day."

He can see that she really is. Still, he does not like the idea of doing this, any more than she likes asking for it. She knows how uncomfortable it makes him, and he has a feeling she knows why, though they never really talk about it. 

As much as he has gotten used to this, and as much as he knows she will come back, he still cannot get past the nagging worry in his mind. It is there every time, that question. What if. 

What if this is the last one? What if she really does not come back this time? What if he spends a week waiting for her only to realise that the last one was, in fact, it?

If that happens, and he had a part in it, he will not be able to live with himself. 

He leans back in his chair and rubs at his face. He feels tired too. He has a feeling she is more so, but this condition tears at them both. It is not exactly something you can find a support group for. Much less a healthy coping method. 

"Tim, I promise it won't become a regular thing," Stephanie says. She knows that Tim believes it will be eventually. "Just this once, and I can keep a low profile for the other three. Maybe I can slip in the bathroom later, try to speed it up more."

There are certain loopholes they have found and learned to exploit. Stephanie mostly looks for the ones that will speed it up, while Tim looks for the ones that make it relatively painless. They know some of the rules. They can work with them. 

Stephanie cannot do it herself. That never works. She can do it by accident, but there needs to be little enough intent in the act for it to work. Tim can also help. They figured out that loophole by accident. 

Tim may need therapy, but at least it is not only for this reason. He has his own host of problems even without Stephanie and her condition. Really, she just slots into his life like the last puzzle piece of anxiety. Even so, he would not give her up for the world. 

Right now, his most important person is looking at him as though he is the answer to all her problems. He really wishes he was.

He sighs. He never could say no to her. 

"Just this one," he says. "And only because I love you."

She does not look happy, precisely, but grateful. Certainluy grateful. It almost makes him nauseous, even after years with her. He loves her so much.

They move quickly and silently. Stephanie stands up and Tim walks around the desk to stand behind her. He breathes deep, steels himself. 

When his arms slip around her, it is to wrap her in a hug. He does not blame her for the way she tenses, but she relaxes instantly once she understands the intent. She clasps her hands over his and squeezes. He rests his head on her shoulder. 

For a long moment, they just stand there. There is no need to talk. They are each other's silent comfort, each other's support. Their silent agreement is that they will get each other through this. 

"Do you think you could help me with the shopping? The Christmas lights?" Stephanie whispers. She rubs her cheek softly against his. 

He does have a lot to do today, and a lot to do tomorrow, but it is Stephanie asking. He could never tell her no. 

"Of course, sweetie. What colour?"

"Get the rainbow ones," Stephanie whispers, and her voice cracks slightly. "The ones that blink in patterns."

He squeezes her tightly. 

"I'll set them up before you wake up. You'll love it."

She nods, and he feels her cheek twitch as she smiles. 

"Thanks, Tim. I love you."

"I love you too Steph."

He slowly slides his hands up her arms to her shoulders. One hand slides up and settles on her jaw, while the other slips around her forehead. He strokes her cheek with his thumb. 

"Ready?" he whispers in her ear. She hums her confirmation. He presses a quick peck to her temple and leans his head back, out of the way. 

In a swift movement, he wrests her head far enough that her neck snaps. It goes cleanly, with a sickening crack that echoes in his head. Stephanie does not feel a thing. 

He catches her on the way down, arms wrapping tenderly around her. He brings her head up to rest against his shoulder so that it will not loll and sweeps her up into a bridal carry. Her eyes are closed. She looks relaxed. Peaceful. 

Tim kisses her forehead tenderly, closing his eyes as he does so. Quietly, he mumbles a prayer into her skin, to whomever may be listening, that she comes back soon. He then carries her into their bedroom. 

The bed is messy from this morning, as they rarely make the effort to make the bed after they sleep. Tim lays out Stephanie on her side, arranging her carefully on the pillow before he tucks her in neatly. She looks to be peacefully asleep now, which comforts him some. He takes great pains to ensure that she rarely ever wakes up uncomfortable. 

He sits with her for a minute, softly brushing her bangs out of her face. After so many times seeing her like this, death does not mean anything to him anymore. Not really. To him, she is asleep, and he is simply waiting for her to wake up. 

While she does so, he settles for doing some of her shopping. He walks out into the hall and gets dressed, pulling on his jacket and gloves with methodical movements. As he walks out the door, he sets his shoulders stubbornly. 

He should have about an hour or two before she wakes up. Just enough time to get her those lights. 

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt:   
> Character A is cursed with watching their friend, Character B, die again and again and again. Because of some cosmic law, Character B is not allowed to die, but they keep becoming involved in tragic accidents – Character B is caught in a random drive-by shooting, a car swerves to avoid hitting a child but strikes Character B instead, an earthquake causes a bookshelf to fall on Character B, etc. – which Character A is powerless to prevent. In order to fix this, the universe keeps forcing Character A to re-live each day so that they can try to save Character B’s life once again.


End file.
